Doctor Strange (2016) Movie Review

Doctor Strange is directed by Scott Derrickson and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, and Tilda Swinton. This movie tells the story of a brilliant neurosurgeon named Dr. Stephen Strange that is beloved for his work and viewed almost as a celebrity by the city and other doctors. Then after a terrible accident he loses the control of his hands, where his hands continue to shake. This embarks him on an adventure to find how to cure himself of this happenstance by any means necessary, which leads him to meet a powerful woman named The Ancient One. In which he learns the differences in universes, time, and other dimensional laws of nature and how they affect the real world. These events create a magical and eventful narrative that uses extraordinary visual effects along with a stellar script to create a mind-bending film.

My Thoughts:

I loved this film, and all of its unusual stories that most Marvel Cinematic Universe fans are unaware of. I have read Dr. Strange comic books before, but I never got to dive deep into the mythology of his character. So, I as well went into this movie unsure of what to expect. This film blew me away with its brilliant visual effects. The way they crafted the use of sorcery along with the capturing of the setting of where the magic takes place. The film also uses some practical effects and sets to create the sense of environment for the audience. This film provided satisfaction and curiosity about how this character will relate to the other avengers in the MCU.

Filmmaking & Performances:

The visual effects are brilliantly done as I said. The CGI is used in an excellent yet subtle way to offer a sense of realism to the film. Because the film doesn’t rely on the CGI to give characterization or to capture the magical action of the film. The filmmaking is done in an excellent way, but could have been done better in other ways. As far as the performances go, Bennedict Cumberbatch is excellent in the movie. He brings this character to life using humor and charisma to flush out the script. The script itself along with Mr. Cumberbatch’s performance really did a great job of making this character relatable to the audience through his personality and his fear of failure. Rachel McAdams is great as well, and she provides some comic relief to the film through her great on-screen chemistry with Benedict Cumberbatch. Tilda Swinton is also very well in the film. She provides many great twists and turns to the narrative as well as a sense of curiosity to her character.

Flaws:

The flaws of the film centralize around the plot and character development. The beginning of the film takes a long time to build to the main plot, so the film at times can feel bogged down by over exposition. The main villain of this film has a failure in character development, he is cliché in many ways. The filmmaking can be seen as reliable on CGI at points as well, but I believe it uses in the proper ways and must be used to capture the setting. The action in the film isn’t filmed in the best ways. In very quickly edited and uses fast paced shots, and I believe that method fails to capture the intensity to be reflected in the action scenes. These flaws can bog the film down, but I feel the magical themes of the film recapture the audience’s attention as well as help carry the thematic ideas of the film.

Final Thoughts & Final Grade:

Overall this movie is not one of the MCU’s best, but it still provides a great introduction to this character along with an original origin story. I am completely intrigued in how this character will relate to the other avengers and villains of the MCU. I found this film completely intriguing in how the director captured the magical themes and characters of the film by using extraordinary visual effects and a strong performance from Benedict Cumberbatch. This film can be bogged down with exposition along with okay filmed action sequences in comparison to the incredible direction of action sequences captured by past MCU films. Overall I’m going to give this film an A-. I think it does have flaws, and it is not the best Marvel film of the year in comparison to Civil War and Deadpool. However, the film has a very excellent way of introducing an unknown character to MCU fans. What do you guys think? Will Dr. Strange fit well in the Avengers or not? Leave your thoughts down below and as always have a blessed day.